What Can A Kung Fu Student Do?

Every single student in a class progresses and improves...I guarantee that as long as you go to classes and put in some effort, you will improve.  The more important thing is how to maximize your training.  Each person learns at a different pace so here are some tips to help do your best.

1. Learn something every class - This does not mean that you need to learn a new technique or a new part of your form every class.  What I mean is that you need to listen to corrections from your instructor, discover a more effective way to execute a technique that you know, remember that move that you always get stuck on, etc.
2. Retain what you learn - Once you learn something in class, you need to ensure that you remember that for next class.  To progress you need to be able to retain your past learning and execute on them so you can focus on learning more instead of relearning something.
3. Find your capacity - How much can you learn and retain?  This is different in every person.  Some people can learn and retain one thing each class while others might be able to learn and retain more things.  Kung Fu is not a contest so don't worry about someone else's pace.  
4. Repeat - Repetition is the thing that will give your body the muscle memory to execute a technique or form.  Ensure that you are spending your time repeating what you learn.
5. Question yourself - Ask yourself if you are actually doing this correctly as you practice.  Ask yourself if you understand why you are doing something.  Ask yourself what you can work on to make your techniques better.
6. Listen - So many lessons are taught in our classes.  Instructors are teaching students, senior students are teaching junior students, fellow students are discussing techniques with each other, etc.  Listen to what is being taught and hopefully you will catch a few pieces of information that you may not have known before.
7. Show up physically - During my career as an instructor I have been fortunate enough to be in situations where I could almost always be available for classes.  The harder part is being in the habit of going to class on days when you are tired or would prefer to be doing something else.  
8. Show up mentally - Once you have arrived in class it is now time to prepare to focus.  Get yourself prepared to pay attention to the instructors and focus on the techniques you are working on.
9. Be proud of yourself - You work hard and continue to improve.  Martial arts training is a journey that can last a lifetime so be sure that you remind yourself that you have continued when hundreds, thousands or millions of others did not continue after starting.   

10 New Year Training Tips

So you have had a great holiday. You have partied hard, eaten excessively and forgotten what training means. It's time to get back at it. Here are a list of tips to help get you back into the swing of things.

1. Do not think that you will jump back in and immediately be back into the swing of things.
2. Stretch a bit more than you normally would.
   
3. Make sure that you build into the workout by making sure you build the intensity gradually over the course of the class.
4. Try your best but do not get frustrated or discouraged if you are not up to your regular level of performance.
5. Catch up with your classmates but stay focused on training.
6. Spend time remembering your forms and proper execution rather than trying to speed through your forms.
7. Your stances are probably not as low as they feel so go lower.
8. Since everybody is getting back into the swing of things, pay extra attention to other students, especially if you are practicing weapons techniques.
9. Remember to have fun...this is the reason you do this.
10. Most importantly...remember it is bad luck to kill your instructor, even if by accident (this might be a bit of a selfish tip on my part)

Flashy Forms vs. Regular Forms

As I teach Fut Gar Kung Fu I am often reminded that there are much flashier forms in other styles than the ones we use. Even with that disadvantage our students continue to command attention and be complimented as we perform or compete. How is this possible? The answer is simple. We look for precision of execution which can be a thing of beauty to the eyes of the trained martial artist. Yes, I teach some flashier forms but encourage the students to use the true forms of our style when competing. I believe that achieving a good result with a normal traditional form is a true measure of a student's kung fu skills. Those that have taken Fut Gar Kung Fu and complained about how it looks compared to some other styles have simply not studied the style long enough to perform the techniques in a manner that looks good. I have unfortunately seen schools that seem compelled to add some flashy forms to help their performers/competitors and have even seen schools that have fabricated forms to give their students a flashier look. I think it is ridiculous that schools create forms instead of perfecting the ones they know to the point of looking great. I would like to encourage the traditional schools to stick with your forms and train harder to perfect them.

Kung Fu and Natural Response to Stress

Your body's natural stress response is divided into three stages. These are alarm, resistance and exhaustion. The stages of a confrontation can also be divided into these same stages.

Alarm is the initial stage. This is the initial confrontation where a decision on fight or flight must be made. In Kung Fu it is always preferable to avoid confrontation but there are times when a fight is necessary. Each person must quickly be able to assess the situation and make a determination on whether or not a fight is necessary. If a fight is necessary, the next assessment should be how to quickly end the fight or escape the situation. In a physical confrontation this is an important as the wrong decision can be disastrous.

Resistance is your natural attempt to store things to normal by eliminating the cause of stress. In a fight this is the desire to return yourself to a safe state. This is a result of disabling your opponent, fleeing the fight, or fighting until the opportunity arises to escape. Once you have returned things to a normal state your body will slowly return to its pre-alarm state as well (heart rate, adrenaline, blood flow, etc.)

In a case where you cannot return things to normal through resistance, your body will become exhausted and start to show strain through the onset of minor health issues and later more serious issues. In a physical confrontation, the results can unfortunately be much more drastic as this is the point where you would be unsuccessful in the fight.

Through training in Kung Fu we are developing some moderators that can influence how we deal with these situations. We learn to remain calmer during confrontations, be more confident in a positive outcome, be physically prepared to absorb some damage if necessary, how to properly execute techniques that would end the confrontation and how to defend against physical attacks. Your personality is the other factor that will play into the outcome as each individual has different ways of dealing with confrontation.

How Long Does it Take to Become an Instructor?

As I speak with people I often am asked how long it would take them to become an instructor in Kung Fu. I am always amazed that people expect an answer to this question. I am not sure how I am expected to know the answer to this question. We should probably equate this to some other questions.

• As a person begins to take skating lessons, do people ask them when they will become a professional hockey player?
• How about stopping someone on the street and asking them how long it would take you to get to Florida? Ask that question without specifying how you intend to get there.

I am a Kung Fu instructor, not a psychic. There are way too many variables that play into the equation. Without training with a student for a while I cannot judge things such as athletic ability, retention, coordination, attitude, motivation, determination, attendance and patience. This does not even account for family commitments, work commitments, injury or unexpected circumstances. Let's just say that becoming an instructor will happen when it happens. I would encourage everybody to be patient, work hard and let things happen when they do.

Life Gets In the Way

Over the past 20 years of teaching Kung Fu, one of the most frustrating things that needs to be accepted is that life gets in the way. Today's Kung Fu instructor lives a difficult life. You need to develop your students to the best of your ability knowing that in the end very few will actually persist and make it through to your highest level. I have been fortunate enough to have several students that have trained with me since the beginning and still attend classes. I have however seen more than my share of talented, enthusiastic, promising students leave for various reasons outside of my control....life gets in the way.

It was probably much easier in the past when students lived at the school, trained with their instructors, acted as a family and worked together to support the school. Your instructor provided for you and in turn you were the loyal student.

In today's world we deal with losing students to family commitments, careers commitments, relocation and school commitments. Students have many more choices of what to do with their spare time...catch a movie or go to class, dinner with friends or go to class, go to The Home Show (sorry, had to sneak this one in there for one of the students - you know who you are) or go to class, etc. There are also many more sporting activities to choose from. Once again, life gets in the way.

The bottom line is Kung Fu takes effort, dedication and commitment. It is not the easiest path to take. The students that make it through to becoming an instructor probably think of packing it in many times before they get to that point. As the guide, the instructor can only teach and hope that the student will stick it out.

This seemed like an appropriate topic tonight as I sit here and take a break from studying for an exam in a course I don't want to take (and doubt I will ever apply) because some association has decided that it is relevant to the profession and is mandatory if you ever want to be certified (which I am not sure I even want). In fact, I had to miss teaching class tonight to do this. I have decided that this is about as enjoyable as horse stance training but possibly as necessary so will continue to study until the wee hours of the morning. Tonight....life is getting in the way.

A Day in the Life of a Kung Fu Student

This was an article that was written back in the late 1980's that described my time training with Grandmaster Chan Tai San. This was taken from a Chinese/English newspaper called the Connection.

Does Martial Arts Build Character?

I received a question on my views on whether or not the claim by some that Martial Arts builds character outside the class is true. My answer is a definite yes and no...it depends on a variety of factors including the student, the instructor and the school.

My belief is training in Martial Arts will build something in everyone beginning with a person's weaknesses but this is not necessarily anything to do with character. It could be completely physical or mental. For example, if a person has a bad memory, this will be the limiting factor in their training and all other areas of training cannot progress until the memory improves. If another student has limited endurance, they may not have the opportunity to test their memory because they are exhausted before they get to that point.

So what areas are built through Martial Arts? These include:

• Humility - during training a student will discover that there are many better Martial Artists in the world and even a frail old man may be able to defeat them in a fighting situation
• Patience - Martial Arts is all about repetition and a typical Martial Arts school will force a student to pass certain gates before progressing to their next level of learning
  
• Persistence - nobody will be able to do everything without failure but with persistence everyone is able to succeed in learning and performing techniques taught by their instructor
  
• Self discipline - certain points in a student's training will require their own discipline which was covered in my previous blog entry Fighting Through Monotony
• Respect - for tradition, for other students, for instructors
• Confidence or courage - students that have learned how to defend themselves will be much more confident walking down the street at night, students that have performed in front of a crowd will be less likely to be intimidated by speaking in front of a crowd and students that have seen a punch coming straight for their face is less likely to be scared in a non-physical, confrontational discussion
  

Given this information it would seem that I believe that the absolute answer is yes, Martial Arts will build character. My qualifiers are the attitudes of the student and the instructor as well as the school itself.

• Does the student want to learn with an open mind or are they at the school with the attitude that they pay their money and therefore are entitled to certain things?
  
• Does the instructor treat the class like his/her Martial Arts family or is this a business to them?
• Does the school push students through their program so they can sell a franchise to that student or does the school recognize based on actual level of the student?
• Does the instructor believe in tradition or is it purely fighting that is important such as in boxing or Mixed Martial Arts? Furthermore, does the school have a tradition and lineage that is discussed?
• Why is the student there? Is it because their Mom signed them up or did they truly want to learn Martial Arts for their own reasons?
  

Generally, the students will build character when they join and attend a Martial Arts class regularly but signing up only gives the opportunity to learn and build character. The student still needs to make sure that they work hard and listen while they are in class.

Most Annoying Kung Fu Phone Calls

I often get people calling me about trying classes. I am happy to offer a free trial class to anyone that is interested regardless of their level of experience. I am also often in a position where I am accepting new students. Personally, I find these phone calls to be painful, especially as the person tries in some way to prove they know something. This is the main reason I prefer e-mail contact with a short list of questions on location, cost, training times etc.

Here are some of the most frustrating discussion points that I run into regularly:

• The prospective student for some reason feels that I need to have a very detailed breakdown of all of their previous Martial Arts experience. I really don't care what someone was years ago...if they are joining my school, they need to learn my basic techniques. I don't need a 10 minute Martial Arts biography.
• Come try the class and experience it when invited. Don't ask questions about what exactly will be done in class....if I explain everything that is going to happen then why would a trial class be necessary?
  
• Why do people that don't understand ask to compare our style to another style. I often get asked if we are similar to Wing Chun and when I try to clarify, the person actually knows nothing about Wing Chun so I could say anything and it would not make a difference.
• Is this the right class for me? I don't know....you just called me up out of the blue...I have never met you. Try some different schools and choose one that you like.
• What is the best Martial Art style? For these people, the answer is any style but mine....please go find one of those schools. Actually, I think I spoke about the school that claimed to be the best style in one of my previous entries...here's the link.
  
• When do I get to fight? Any time you like....go to a bar and punch someone in the head...congratulations, you get to fight.
• Then there are the people who have asked some good questions but instead of hanging up, start asking dumb questions just to continue the conversation....
• The people that describe their health issues and ask me if the style will help them. I don't know....I am not a doctor!!!! I can definitely assure you that it is better for you than sitting on a couch eating a bag of Doritos.
• How fast can I reach your highest rank? How should I know? Try showing up to class and giving us an idea of how quickly you learn, how well you correct mistakes and how diligent you are at showing up to every class for the next few years. At that point, I can give you an educated guess.

This is a list of some of the discussions I have with people that call in. I'm sure there are other things that I am missing that I will think of over time.